Have you ever seen what looks like a cross between a soccer game and a beach volleyball game? Chances are you were seeing footvolley in action.
Footvolley is a variation of beach volleyball where players mainly use their feet instead of their hands and arms. Players may use their head, chest, thighs and feet to send the ball over the net.
This dynamic sport requires good balance, ball control, endurance, and quick reflexes. If you think about playing in the sand and mainly using your feet, you have to really anticipate and move quickly to react whenever the ball is headed your way.
If you enjoy beach volleyball and trying new things, read on to learn more about footvolley.
Footvolley is often confused with Sepak Takraw – another variation of volleyball that uses no hands. If that’s what you’re interested in learning about, click here to learn all about it.
How Are Footvolley and Volleyball Similar?
Both sports share the same rules as far as:
- The goal is to ground the ball on the opponent’s side of the net.
- If a player makes contact with the ball and then the ball lands out of bounds, it is the same as being grounded on their side.
- Each team has 3 hits to get the ball over the net to the opponent’s side.
- A player may not hit the ball twice consecutively.
- The scoring is rally point scoring – every play is worth a point regardless of which team served.
- Both games may be played on sand (footvolley is always played on sand).
- Just like beach volleyball, footvolley is played by 2 player teams.
- There are no ties and games are won by a 2 point lead.
- The ball may be played off the net, both on the serve and during regular rallies.
- The ball touching the boundary lines are considered in.
- The ball may not touch the antennae or the net or any other object outside of the antenna pins.
How Are Footvolley and Volleyball Different?
- While you mainly use your hands and arms in volleyball, you may never use your hands or arms in footvolley.
- The use of your head and chest are very common in footvolley.
- A simlutaneous touch by 2 players will be consider 2 hits.
- The nets in footvolley are just slightly lower than beach volleyball, 7′ for men, 6′ 6″ for women.
- The most common game format is a single set that is won by the first team to score 18 points, win by 2. The next most common format is a best-of-3 sets where each set is played to 15, win by 2.
- Switching sides at particular intervals may be done at the discretion of the tournament director – in matches up to 18, switching at each 6 points, and for sets up to 15 points, at each 5 points.
How To Serve in Footvolley
The ball is kicked out of the sand behind the end line. Players may place the ball on a small mound of sand that is built up for this purpose – similar to a golf tee that the golfer strikes the ball off of. If there are windy conditions, the referee may require the ball to spin on the serve.
Footvolley Net Height
The men play on a 7′ net, which is 2.15 meters. The women play on a 6′ 6″ net, which is 2 meters.
Pro Footvolley Ball
Footvolley uses a Size 5 Soccer ball, which is between 440-460 grams. (If you decide to go pick up a soccer ball from Amazon to try footvolley, remember most balls come deflated, so you may want to also pick up a basic hand pump).
History of Footvolley
Beginning in Rio in 1965 by Octavio de Moraes, footvolley did not spread very quickly in the early years. Considering that football (soccer) is Brazil’s favorite sport, followed closely by volleyball, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that someone would think to merge them into footvolley!
In the early days, it was played with 5 players per team. The sport has been very popular with professional football (soccer) players, and so with 5 players per team, the ball would hardly ever drop. Eventually, the teams were reduced down to the 2-on-2 format used today.
The first major event held in the U.S. was in 2003 in Miami.
Where Is Footvolley Popular?
The sport began in Brazil and is still very popular there, but the international growth has spread to every continent, with dozens of countries participating in the Footvolley World Cup.
If you would like to learn about other variations of the sport of volleyball, visit our Variations Category page.
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